Use of Alternative Foods in the Rearing of Aphidophagous Ladybird Beetle, Cheilomenes sexmaculatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Aphidophagous ladybird beetle, Cheilomenes sexmaculatus (Fabricius) developed and reproduced in captivity when offered alternative foods like drone honeybee powder, ant eggs or a combination of ant eggs and aphids (2:1). However, female ladybird beetles showed longer pre-reproductive delay and laid less number of viable eggs by feeding on alternative foods in comparison to those females which fed on living aphids. Adults fed on drone honeybee powder oviposited more number of eggs and such adults lived longer than those fed on ant eggs or a combination of ant eggs and aphids.